What is it?
- the teacher will give the students a text to read and underline certain vocabulary words
- the students read the text (expository or narrative) and use context clues to guess the meaning of the words
- students may do this individually, in pairs, or in groups
- a beneficial activity to accompany this is to have the students get out a sheet of paper and fold it in half, on the left side, they write what they think the definition is and the actual definition on the right side
- after everyone has read and made their hypotheses, the class will discuss the words and possible definitions
Benefits
- students can learn how to use context clues to give the definition of a word
- this can introduce how to find evidence and analyze it (like a mystery!)
- there is a better chance for retention
- ELL students will have a chance to write with descriptive words
- there is less work for the teacher and students are not being lectured at about the definitions
Difficulties
- students may become discouraged if they get the definitions wrong *Make up your own ridiculous definition to share, showing that you used context clues!
Even if it isn't right every time, this is still a good strategy for figuring out new words!*
Val James
Word Prediction
What is it?- the teacher will give the students a text to read and underline certain vocabulary words
- the students read the text (expository or narrative) and use context clues to guess the meaning of the words
- students may do this individually, in pairs, or in groups
- a beneficial activity to accompany this is to have the students get out a sheet of paper and fold it in half, on the left side, they write what they think the definition is and the actual definition on the right side
- after everyone has read and made their hypotheses, the class will discuss the words and possible definitions
Benefits
- students can learn how to use context clues to give the definition of a word
- this can introduce how to find evidence and analyze it (like a mystery!)
- there is a better chance for retention
- ELL students will have a chance to write with descriptive words
- there is less work for the teacher and students are not being lectured at about the definitions
Difficulties
- students may become discouraged if they get the definitions wrong
*Make up your own ridiculous definition to share, showing that you used context clues!
Even if it isn't right every time, this is still a good strategy for figuring out new words!*
Val James